[78-L] Les Paul

[Cary Ginell]

I did a phone interview with Les once, back in the early '80s. He went on and on and on about his early influences - listening to Zeke Campbell play electric guitar with the Light Crust Doughboys on WBAP in Fort Worth, his early inventions, etc. When it was over, we had consumed 2 full 10" reels of tape, which I transferred to cassette. Good thing, too, because the reel tape probably has sticky shed syndrome now.

 

While researching my master's thesis on Decca's hillbilly series, I made copies of the 1936 sessions he did for Decca/Champion (which were only issued on Montgomery Ward) and sent them to Les at Fat Tuesdays in NY, where he was playing then. He sent me an autographed picture and a letter thanking me for these, saying he'd never heard them. When he made those discs, he called himself Rhubarb Red (a take-off on his friendship with Pie Plant Pete), a rube character he played on Chicago radio. He played acoustic guitar with a rack-mounted harmonica like Pete did (real name Claude Moye). Les played this way until he started listening to Django Reinhardt in the late 30s. 

 

A couple of years later, Les was the keynote speaker at an AES presentation in Hollywood and I just happened to be working a camera, videotaping the address. I went to introduce myself to Les and he proceeded to rave to the audience about what I'd done for him in bringing his first commercial recordings to him. Shortly after that, MCA issued the sides in a 2-CD set on his early career. 

 

The last time I saw him perform was at the Strand in Redondo Beach. He was in his 80s by then, but put on a fabulous performance. There are few musicians who have contributed as much to American music as Les Paul has. He was bigger than life and a class act.

 

Cary Ginell
 
> Date: Thu, 13 Aug 2009 12:02:34 -0500
> From: ampex354 at gmail.com
> To: 78-l at klickitat.78online.com
> Subject: Re: [78-L] Les Paul
> 
> I just heard on the radio, it was due to complications from pneumonia.
> 
> On Thu, Aug 13, 2009 at 11:59 AM, <bruce78rpm at comcast.net> wrote:
> 
> > What an incredible artist and what an incredibly long and active career.
> > He was the same age as my dad who is still with us .
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Taylor Bowie" <bowiebks at isomedia.com>
> > To: "78-L Mail List" <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
> > Sent: Thursday, August 13, 2009 12:35:36 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
> > Subject: [78-L] Les Paul
> >
> > The Washington Post says that Les Paul has passed away at age 94.
> >
> > Taylor
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > 78-L mailing list
> > 78-L at klickitat.78online.com
> > http://klickitat.78online.com/mailman/listinfo/78-l
> > _______________________________________________
> > 78-L mailing list
> > 78-L at klickitat.78online.com
> > http://klickitat.78online.com/mailman/listinfo/78-l
> >
> _______________________________________________
> 78-L mailing list
> 78-L at klickitat.78online.com
> http://klickitat.78online.com/mailman/listinfo/78-l

_________________________________________________________________
Get your vacation photos on your phone!
http://windowsliveformobile.com/en-us/photos/default.aspx?&OCID=0809TL-HM